99 Inner Tie Rod Replacement

I don't have the manual handy, but I'd assume you could just use a standard screw based hose clamp for the boot band, since it isn't a spinning object needing balance or clearance.

I did the drivers side inner tie rod this past weekend. I ordered and used the Lisle 45750 tool (65$)

http://www.lislecorp.com/tool_detail.cfm?detail=822

In hindsight , this tool probably was not needed. I could have done it with a 24mm and 33.6mm (or their english equivalents) open end wrenches by extending the rack so the flats on the rack and tie rod lined up with the space between the sway bar and frame underneath it. Fit the wrenches up through this space. It turns out that the flats on both the rack and tie rod are oriented so the wrenches would be in a vertical position extending down thru the gap.

The flats on the new tie rod are not as wide as the old one, so the Lisle tool or your 33.6mm wrench would work fine to remove the old rod, but not to install the new one. I was cussing Honda about this time. Your options are to grind the wrench or tool thinner or grind a wider flat on the tie rod. After much consideration about fatigue cycling and such, I decided to grind the tie rod. After I had the required flat, I made sure there were no sharp corners (stress risers) that could lead to failure. You may very well want to choose to grind the tool.

It didn't take much torque to remove the old tie rod. Another thing about the Lisle tool I didn't like is that it did not extend outside of the wheel well, so my 1/2" breaker bar was at a funny angle. The tool was about 14" or 15" in total length. A 1/2" extension would have fixed this problem. I used a crescent wrench (shame on me) to hold the rack still. After snugging up the knurl to grip the flat, I turned the steering wheel slightly to put some pressure on the wrench to hold it in place. Otherwise it would have just fallen off. Then with my foot on the crescent wrench ( another person would have been real handy here) and my hands holding the Lisle tool and breaker bar, loosened/tightened the tie rod.

And one more crappy thing about the Lisle tool, I had to grind some material down between the flats to get the tie rod to fit in the center of the tool.

Not one of my better money saving repairs, but I got it done.

Todd K.

Sorry, I only just now got my manual out, before reading your post. It does show simple crescent wrenches to remove the tie rods. Sadly, it does not describe how you might do it on the car, but only as a part of disassembly of the steering rack.

I have the helms. I wanted to do it with rack in.

Thanks,

Todd K.

Thanks for the info in your posts. I just replaced the driver's side inner tie rod on a '99 Odyssey and found many of the same issues. One more thing to highlight is that there is a spacer up against the rack and then a lock-tab washer on the inboard side of the tie rod ball joint. My new tie rod from Napa came with a new lock tab washer and I was able to re-use the spacer.

Another thing I did in addition to counting the turns of the tie rod end for re-installation - I took two measurements of the rotor face front and back to two different reference points. Upon reassembly I made the fine adjustment on the tie rods to bring these dimensions back to the original measurements. The car tracks straight and the steering wheel is centered as it was before the replacement even without an alignment.

Regarding tools, I purchased the Harbor Freight inner tie rod tool # 96558. I had to grind out the 33.6 mm insert piece about 1/16" to get it to center in the tool when placed on the ball joint flats. Once I did that, it worked well. I would recommend this tool for this project.

Overall, the installation went well and I would do it again. Thanks for all the helpful information.